thefamilyphotojournalist: Bio: Chuck Anerino

I started taking photographs about five years ago when I took custody of my young nephew. I wanted to make sure I took photos to document his growth. At the time, I had a really terrible 1.3 megapixel point and shoot camera. Despite its shortcomings, I took a lot of photos of my new little guy. One of the most frustrating things to me with the delay from when the time I pressed the shutter to the time the actual photo took place. So I went to the store to replace the camera but found out that all ‘point and shoot’ cameras had that lag.

And that is why I bought a digital Rebel, my first DSLR. I knew literally nothing about photography or photoshop. I learned very quickly that a ‘fancy camera’ did not equal good or even decent photos! In fact, some of my photos with the 1.3 megapixel camera were better than with the DSLR. I knew something was wrong. So I began to visit various photography forums (fredmiranda.com and dpreview.com) and read just about everything that was written on gear and learning photography. Two common pieces of advice were given to me: buy a 50mm prime lens and buy Bryan Peterson’s “Understanding Exposure”. I did both and my understanding of photography got better.

From there it was practice, get feedback, practice more, get more feedback. I found the feedback given in photography forums to be invaluable. They became my ‘classroom’. This process continued for several years. Luckily, it was my passion for documenting my growing family that kept me shooting. I still LOVE doing it on a daily basis.